


Thicker Than Forget

by adara



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Claudia Stilinski Feels, Claudia Stilinski's Background, Claudia Stilinski's Death, F/M, Frontotemporal Dementia, Magical Claudia Stilinski, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Prequel of sorts, Sick Character, Sickfic, Stilinski Family Feels, Warning: Kate Argent, brief mentions of Derek Hale at the very very end, brief mentions of Melissa McCall, magic!Claudia, pre-magic Stiles, what happened to Claudia is shady af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 12:12:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14976923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adara/pseuds/adara
Summary: Claudia Stilinski had a life and a much different purpose in this world before she met her husband. She chose to walk away from it. She did not choose to forget.A.K.A. the fic where I insert my Claudia headcanons into Rhysiana's magical!Stiles fic-verse because Claudia Stilinski had to have noticed that something was afoot in Beacon Hills. This work is 100% inspired by “The (un)Usual?” by Rhysiana. Chronologically this fic is set earlier but please read that work first.





	Thicker Than Forget

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rhysiana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysiana/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The (un)Usual?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157738) by [rhysiana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysiana/pseuds/rhysiana). 



> This work is 100% inspired by [“The (un)Usual?”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157738/chapters/20797990) by Rhysiana because I read it and was like if Stiles’ family was magical and the timeline lines up, I don’t think it was coincidental that Claudia Stilinski fell ill at the same time Beacon Hills started going to hell. And then Rhysiana fueled me and then this happened so here you go. If you haven’t read the inspiration for this fic, please read that first. This fic is chronologically first but should be read after the original for full clarity. 
> 
> **Please see the end notes for warnings on potentially triggery content.**
> 
> Title from the poem [[love is more thicker than forget]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7f/fe/0b/7ffe0ba389ce4fa19ee296afa87126d9.jpg) by e.e. cummings

“Agnieszka, please?” Claudia crooned at her sister, puppydog eyes and the world’s least authentic pout firmly in place.

“Siostra, honestly?” she huffs, without true heat behind it.

Claudia nods emphatically. “I need to get supplies for Roscoe’s oil change so I needed to head into Fresno anyways. But Raven from the farm is meeting with friends at the park so I need the whole day because I said I’d drive her.”

Agnieszka’s eyes looked heavenward before she tutted her approval and Claudia pounced on her, enveloping her in an enthusiastic hug.

They’d been staying in a small cabin in Piedra, a small town half an hour from Fresno on the south bank of Kings River. It sat at the edge of Pine Flat Lake and preserve land while still being close enough to the more populous areas. It was perfect, they had decided, for being both accessible if they needed to mobilize while also being secluded enough for them to weave themselves through nature the way their born magics inclined them to.

 

***

 

It’s late when Claudia returns, but Agnieszka can’t sleep until she feels her sister’s contented energy settling in the room next door. They’ve always been together. She hardly remembers the time before Claudia and what she does remember feels like she was waiting. She was too little to know it, hadn’t even realized at the time, but something just clicked into place when a tiny Claudia was placed in her arms for the first time.

In the morning she hangs herbs to dry while Claudia weeds the garden. She prattles on about a baseball game at Euless Park, how Raven’s friend Blake from the police academy had played a good game, how John from the team had gotten her curly fries from the concession stand as a thank you because she jump started his car.

She traces a shape in the soil at the end of the row, places her palm over it, and Agnieszka doesn’t even need to turn around from her work to know that everything in their garden looks just a bit brighter and happier. Claudia has that effect on things. She brings life.

 

***

 

They’re supposed to be laying low, their training now complete. They’re not necessarily supposed to be making friends, but Claudia said it would draw even more attention to them if they didn’t make some connections with the people in town. The council sent them here to work some purification on the Kings River and place some wards around some poorly chosen mundane recreational areas in the preserve lands around the lake.

Agnieszka should not be surprised when Claudia is the one to make friends in town. She should not be surprised when Claudia and Raven start to regularly take Roscoe into Fresno. She should not be surprised when Claudia starts to talk more and more about this John Stilinski. She should not be surprised, when the notice comes from the Council that their work has been deemed sufficient and they are being relocated to the East Coast, that Claudia says no. She shouldn’t be surprised, but she is.

Claudia says she is choosing love and and having a family over the other world, despite her birthright powers. Despite the work they have yet to do. Despite years of training for a greater good. Stilinski makes her happy, she says. He wants to get married, she says. She knows she’s not allowed to tell him, she says. And all Agnieszka can do is kiss the top of her head and hug her sister close. This is not the path she thought they would walk, always thought they would walk together through life, but she cannot begrudge her this.

“I can’t say I understand it,” Agnieszka says, “but you have to follow the right path for you. Always trust where your spark leads you, Claudia. That was our first lesson and we must still abide it. If Stilinski is where you’re being led, I am happy for you.”

 

***

Agnieszka moves on, hones her skills, and works where she is directed to by the Council. She comes back for Claudia’s wedding, to bless their new home when John graduates and accepts a position in Beacon Hills, to bless Claudia when she is pregnant, to bless the baby when he is born. Mieczysław. There is great power in a name and Claudia has chosen this one well. They do seem to be happy. Claudia must have chosen well in that as well.

Claudia moves into the Hale territory to be with John. They are young, married, blissful. She wants to live under the radar, off the magical grid. She knew what she was choosing by choosing this life, the other roles she was stepping away from. She’s never told John. She can’t. She hasn’t introduced herself to the pack and has kept strictly to her own little family, her friend Melissa, and the herb garden in the backyard. It’s never been an issue. Until it is.

 

***

 

Claudia isn’t actively using her magic, nothing traceable or strong enough to draw attention, but her matzo ball soup does tend to cure most maladies. Her sweet Stiles has always been a healthy, happily energetic boy. He is the light of her life, he and John both, and she doesn’t regret giving up the other world if it means she gets to have them.

But choosing to live outside of the other world and being oblivious to it are not the same. She and John are both agents of peace, in different ways, and the peace of this town is being disturbed. She sees the case files he brings home to toil over, sees things around town, hears things in the preserve. Things that she has more context for but can’t explain to her husband.

The energy of the town is off and it’s starting to feel like a chill in her bones. She almost wants to call Agnieszka, but she doesn’t want to bother her. She’s been moved into formal emissary training by the Council and Claudia doesn’t want to overstep in assessing the presence of an issue here when she’s supposed to be passing as mundane.

She regrets not introducing herself to the pack when they moved here years ago. She can’t deny there is something happening here, in their territory. She knows it isn’t her place anymore to address it. That if she tried, she’d be acting outside of her agreement and outside of Council parameters, and the Hale pack might be upset by her meddling.

She doesn’t want to risk repercussions for her family, so she goes the proper route of bringing concerns to the presiding pack via their emissary. She knows the role is filled by Alan Deaton, the veterinarian. They don’t have any pets and neither does Melissa, with Scott’s allergies and asthma, so trying to find an inconspicuous way to visit him is harder than it would have been if she were known to the pack.

 

***

 

At the grocery store, Stiles asks to go down the pet food aisle. It’s the only aisle in the whole store he’s never seen and they’ve been coming here his whole life, he rationalizes. She can’t fault that logic. As they stroll down the aisle, she decides to grab a few bags of food and tells Stiles they can donate it to the pets at the shelter. He’s momentarily thrilled and then bounds forward to the end of the aisle and over to the dairy case to pick his favorite yogurt flavors for the coming week.

She can’t read the look on Dr. Deaton’s face, can’t read his energy either, when she finishes her introductions and the disparate threads of information that had made their way to her.

“I just wanted the Hale pack to be aware,” she states, fingers toying with a beaded keychain Stiles made for her a few months back for Mother’s Day. “I haven’t practiced in nearly a decade, but this is my home too, and I’m willing to assist, if needed.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Stilinski,” Dr. Deaton says, unrattled by anything she just said.

“I don’t mean to overstep. It’s just that one little thing here or there is expected on the perimeter of pack land but that poor girl, Paige, in the woods—in the middle of Hale territory—there just has to be something we can do. I don’t want to unnecessarily raise alarm, but something is not right in Beacon Hills. Here’s my number at the house, if Alpha Hale would like to grant my request for an audience,” Claudia says, stepping back towards the entrance. She should leave.

“Not overstepping at all,” Dr. Deaton assures her. “It’s only natural to want to maintain the balance when you feel it so intrinsically, as we do. I will speak with Alpha Hale.”

“Just—if she’s going to call, please only between 10 and 2 while my son is at school and my husband is at work. They don’t know,” she gesticulates a bit wildly, swirling her hands about, “about all this. About any of this. They can’t know.”

“Not to worry, Mrs. Stilinski. They won’t.” He pats her firmly on the shoulder as he escorts her to the door.

She feels that chill in her bones again as he releases her shoulder and she steps out into the breezy parking lot.

 

***

 

She feels herself slipping. Her senses are not as sharp, the garden does not shine for her anymore, things are wilting. She has headaches. She is tired. She snapped at Stiles for being too silly at bedtime last night. They are always silly at bedtime. It shouldn’t have bothered her.

She keeps feeling like she’s forgetting something important, can’t latch on to what it could be. Did she forget something at the store? Does Stiles have a school project due soon? Was she supposed to bake something for class? It’s a bunch of little things. When she goes to the store, she pauses at the end of the pet food aisle. Did they need pet food? No. They don’t have any pets. She keeps going.

Months go by and she forgets some words all together. Her speech is jumbled at times and she gets agitated and confused in the evenings. Everything in her garden has died. She doesn’t remember how to make her soup anymore. Stiles tells her it will make her feel better, that it’s practically magic. She never wrote the recipe down because she never needed to, but now she doesn’t remember it. Stiles insists it will make her feel better. Melissa and John share worried looks. There’s no such thing as magic.

The doctor tells them that there’s nothing they can do, that this will progress, that it will somehow be worse than it already is. John is no longer the blissful young man she married and she is confused by how old and tired he looks.

The sign on the lawn outside her window says Beacon Hills Long-Term Care Facility and this confuses her. She just woke up here. Where is here? Is this her room? Yes, the staff tells her. Sometimes a boy sits with her in her room, sometimes quietly doing homework and sometimes reading to her. She feels like she’s been here a while some days. She doesn’t know if it’s time to get ready for the Friday night game or where Raven is, and John chokes on his words when he tries to answer.

 

***

 

She wakes with a start, the smell and sounds of the storm surrounding her. The boy holds her hand and murmurs reassurance, and for a moment she knows him.

“Mieczysław. My sword of glory. My strong, little love. My dziecko. I’m so sorry,” she says, frail hand cupping his face. He looks so much bigger and she doesn’t want to look away.

“Mom? Mama?” Stiles says, voice so full of hope as he nuzzles into her hand. “I wanted you to wake up. I’m sorry.”

She feels the energy radiating off of him. He is bone dry but he smells of the storm, of electricity, of magic. He pulled her back from wherever she was slipping.

There’s a chill in the air that has nothing to do with the downpour outside and a feeling of dread permeates her everything. She needs to protect her baby from whatever is coming, but she can’t pluck the words out of the air. She needs to call somebody. She needs somebody who can help. A flash of a woman hanging herbs while she sits by the edge of a garden—a flash of her sister—crosses her mind.

“Stiles. It’s going to be okay. I just—”

A blonde nurse comes in to check her beeping IV, changes the bag and presses a few buttons so the beeping of the machine stops but the alarm bells in her head are louder than ever.

She doesn’t get to finish her sentence. The new bag of fluids hanging there are not what they say they are and that nurse was not a nurse. Nobody questions the passing of the woman who has been steadily deteriorating for weeks.

Later, when John comes, he doesn’t believe their son when he says she woke up, that Claudia was really there with him— just wishful thinking. He hugs the boy close and brings him back home to the house that feels emptier than it ever has.

 

***

 

After she hangs the tampered fluids the blonde woman walks right off the unit, out of the building, down the sidewalk and around the block to her car. She changes at a hotel and stops for an overpriced coffee as if she didn’t just traumatize a kid for life. She’s walking down the sidewalk past the vet clinic as Dr. Deaton is closing up shop, coffee in one hand and umbrella in the other.

“Good evening,” he says politely.

She quirks an eyebrow at him and smirks. “Very.”

He nods and carries on his way, placid smile on his face. He never did say anything to Talia about Claudia’s visit, but Peter did hum appreciatively at his very literal destabilization of the threat. The now eliminated threat to the plan.

She opens her hotel room door upon her return to the hotel and her smile has a sharp edge to it. “Well, don’t you just look good enough to eat tonight, Derek.”

She closes the door behind her and has zero issues traumatizing another kid. She’s knocking out two gigs in one day. Well, technically this one’s still in progress but this egg has cracked and it’s only a matter of time.

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Somewhat detailed account of losing a loved one to dementia. Canonical character death is Claudia Stilinski, everyone else survives in this verse. Directly implied, but not at all detailed, underage Derek being victimized by Kate Argent at the very very end so skip the last two paragraphs if you need to. 
> 
> Please read the work upon which this is based, if you haven't already. Rhysiana is amazing and this will all make so much more sense when you have the full picture. 
> 
> Additional timeline info: A month later, the Hale fire happens and the Hales relocate. Kate tries to move back home now that her ops are over and finds a very pissed off Chris blocking the door. He can’t prove the how or why of the fire, but her bank statement shows a hefty transfer that’s too timely to be coincidental and he’s not an idiot. The Hale pack is well known and peaceful. This is not how they do things here and he is done.
> 
> Deaton never asked Claudia’s background when she said she hadn’t practiced in ten years. He made assumptions that she was a low-level solo practitioner at best since she wasn’t even a blip on his radar until she presented herself at the clinic. He didn’t realize the full scope of her purposefully shielded magic, didn’t know that she was of the Gajos line. He realizes the gravity of his mistake when Agnieszka comes to town for the funeral, makes sure to thoroughly cover his tracks. When he stays in Beacon Hills and she eventually replaces him as the Hale Emissary, he doubles down his efforts to avoid detection. This flows directly into Agnieszka’s conversation with Talia in the original fic. 
> 
> Irony of ironies, Agnieszka would never have met Talia Hale had she not contacted the pack to let them know she would be traveling into their territory, per protocol, for Claudia’s funeral (in my fic, can't speak for Rhysiana's original fic). They got on extraordinarily well and kept in touch after the move. When their emissary position becomes vacant, Talia asserts to the Council that Agnieszka will be filling it. So, in a way, Deaton’s choices lead both the Hale pack and the eventual McCall pack down some very winding roads that are not at all to his benefit. 
> 
>  
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [9timesoutoften](https://9timesoutoften.tumblr.com/) where you can always reach out to me to talk Sterek


End file.
